Here at Blood Brothers, we have been fans of the directing and
production company Atron-6 since the release of Manborg. Our love for their love of cult genres and their ability
to harness the style and pizzazz of films and genres from decades past has made
it sure that we never miss one of their films. This group of dedicated cult
cinema enthusiasts are now shaking off the shackles of their more comedic and
homage tones for their latest film, The
Void. While there are certainly elements of the Astron-6 concept here in
the film, this is certainly their most serious and perhaps darkest film to date
and it’s a phenomenal experience to have. The
Void remains a stylistic love letter to the likes of Carpenter, Fulci,
Lovecraft, and Gordon, but it also features a wit and modern speed that make it
worthy of a 2017 audience.

Small town life has its own problems. Just ask Daniel
(Poole), the local law enforcement. Everyone knows everyone and when a tragedy
strikes, like it did between him and his wife Allison (Munroe) then it gets
around quickly. However, on this night that’s the least of his worries. After
bringing a bloodied drug addict into the local hospital that’s being moved, he
unwittingly unleashes a new kind of terror on the last people in the building…a
terror from beyond.

Lovecraftian cults are so 00s.

The Void truly is
the kind of film that takes a lot of 80s horror style and gives it a once over
for modern audiences. Directors Kostanski and Gillespie have an obvious love
for the era and cult cinema, just look at their filmography and you’ll see this
is a repeated theme, and they attempt to recreate the same tone and feel of the low budget 80s horror movie in
full. Using plenty of simplistic and effective imagery, The Void ably handles
the idea and runs with it. Whether it’s the full on practical effects of the
monsters that show a large amount of Screamin’ Mad George influence (often
bringing to mind a wicked combination of John Carpenter’s The Thing and Bride of
Re-Animator) or the atmospheric vague detail of the strange cult that seems
to be connected to the monsters in the hospital, The Void really does feel like an 80s flick. It’s relentless with
how smart it is in knowing when to show an audience something and when not to,
a tactic that is lost in a lot of modern horror currently. It’s loaded with a
lot of stock characters from those bygone films and it’s executed to give the
audience a frantic pacing that never stops to give them a breather. If
there is anything to pull away from the film, it’s that it doesn’t hesitate to
unleash its Lovecraftian influence in either the visuals or atmosphere and that’s
a huge plus to the film.

Perhaps the one issue that arises is that the pacing and
vague narrative two-hit approach can leave the audience a bit disconnected from its
characters. It wastes no time in throwing the audience right into the middle of
the entire situation of its plotting and instead opts to build character
interactions and connections through small bits of dialogue on the go. This
makes for a massively entertaining experience, but one that may not hit the
emotional moments nearly as hard as it might have with a bit more exposition
and build in the opening act. Fortunately, The
Void has just enough charm and effective pacing to overcome a lot of it,
thanks to the dark humor that sneaks into some of the interactions, and it
remains a film where the style contains enough substance to get by with as
little damage as possible.

Rough day at the hospital.

Once again, Kostanski and Gillespie are able to blend their
love letter to cult cinema of a specific era into a rightfully effective modern
film. The Void contains enough
awesome homages and style that even the thinner scripting and characters seem to
be part of the intent and not necessarily a detriment to the film. It’s a bit
tongue in cheek for some as it piles on some outrageous moments and
slightly over-the-top dialogue, but the ultimate goal of the film as an
atmospheric Lovecraftian gut punch works making The Void perhaps one of the best films from the directors. It’s not
a film for everyone, but it comes highly recommended for those who are fans of
80s films like Re-Animator, The Thing, The Beyond, or Hellraiser.

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Osaka Asian Film Festival 2018

Welcome To Blood Brothers!

Here at Blood Brothers we, cult fan brothers Eric and Matt, are dedicated to bringing reviews to some of the worlds best (and worst, depending on your taste) cult like films from around this large globe. Whether it be Horror, Science Fiction, Kung Fu, or any other cult like genre - we are your first and last stop for all your review needs. Unapologetically kvlt.

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